Paddleboarder Mike Shoreman has completed his crossing of all five Great Lakes.
He set out to complete the goal back in May.
He’s the first person with a disability to complete the task.
Shoreman was diagnosed with an extreme case of Ramsay Hunt Syndrome, which is when the shingles virus attacks nerves in the body.
His illness then affected his ability to speak and walk and caused him to have to give up paddleboarding for a time, which also caused his paddleboarding business to have to shut down.
The mental health advocate’s plan was to cross each of the lakes, in order to raise $100,000 to put toward mental health resources in schools.
On Sunday, he completed his crossing of Lake Ontario, where he was welcomed to shore by his family and members of the public, including former Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion.
“It was wild! Seeing 101-year-old Mayor ‘Hurricane’ Hazel McCallion standing there was quite something.”
He says there was a challenge with each body of water, saying “For Lake Superior, I couldn’t see a thing because it was dense fog throughout the entire crossing. Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, and Lake Ontario were all through the night.”
In order to stay safe, he had to complete the nighttime crossings while sitting on his board rather than standing.
Shoreman says that although he’s successfully finished crossing the five lakes, there’s still work to be done.
He teamed up with Jack.org to raise funds, and once he landed in Toronto, around $64,000 had been raised.
He says that the campaign will remain open until next month in hopes of meeting its goal.
Shoreman says that now that he’s paddleboarded across the lakes, he’s going to have some much-needed rest.